Supporting Biodiversity Research Infrastructure with the Specify Database System

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Biological museums and herbaria are estimated to contain three billion animal and plant specimens that document the temporal and spatial distribution of life on earth. Four hundred years of biological survey, species description and archiving in museums and herbaria have produced a massive, globally distributed knowledge resource documenting the planet's biological diversity. The Specify Software Project supports the computerization of biological collections data. Support and development of Specify, a biological collections database application, is provided free of charge at http://www.usobi.org/specify. Specify is currently used by 55 collections. In this project, Specify's core data management will be enhanced and the usability of the interface will be improved and extended so that users can customize the web components considered. Further, there will be full integration with the Species Analyst Network. A help desk and technical support are provided to collections. Overall, the Specify Project will enable the capture and integration of millions of specimen records into computing architectures that will enable cross-domain research and education in environmental science.